UNIT 357:UNDERSTANDING THE DEVELOPMENTOF PERSONAL AND TEAM EFFECTIVENESS IN A RETAIL BUSINESSPresented by Bill Haining

UNDERSTANDING THE DEVELOPMENTOF PERSONAL AND TEAM EFFECTIVENESS IN A RETAIL BUSINESS There are seven learning outcomes to this unit. The apprentice will be able

to: 1. Understand the recruitment process. 2. Understand how individuals and teams are developed within a retail

business. 3. Understand effective communication within retail teams in retail business. 4. Understand how conflict is resolved within teams in retail business. 5. Understand the link between improved personal performance and

improved business performance. 6. Understand how to review the personal performance of retail team

members. 7. Understand the general principles of employment law.

RECRUITING STAFF When recruiting staff there are six key stages to go through: ✓✓ Preparing a job description which states roles and

responsibilities ✓✓ Preparing a personal specification which states the

skills, characteristics and attributes needed ✓✓ Advertising the post, which may be done internally or

externally ✓✓ Short-listing candidates to reduce the applicants to

those who you wish to interview ✓✓ Interviewing the selected candidates and selecting

thesuccessful candidate ✓✓ Offering the job

RECRUITMENT TOOLS AND LEGISLATION Information that supports recruitment decisions includes CVs,

which tell you about the candidate’s work history, achievements and skills; application forms, which enable you to formulate the information to make it easier to compare applicants; references which support the application with testimonials from previous employers or character witnesses; psychometric testing which measures aptitudes, personality and motivation.

Also skills assessments and exercises carried out by the applicant, for instance problem solving or cash handling.

RECRUITMENT TOOLS AND LEGISLATION

Legislation that relates to the recruitment process includes the Equality Act, which makes it illegal to discriminate against people on the grounds of age, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, political affiliation, national origin, criminal record or marital status; the Working Time Directive, which guarantees all employees a maximum working week of 48 hours averaged over 17 weeks, and 5.6 weeks holiday per year.

Employees aged 18 or over can opt out of the 48 hour limit, but this must be voluntary and you cannot dismiss or unfairly treat employees who refuse to opt out.

The Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act makes it illegal to knowingly employ a person aged 16 or over who is subject to immigration control and who has no permission to work in the UK or who works in breach of their conditions of stay.

DEVELOPING INDIVIDUALS AND TEAMS Individuals and teams are developed through the identification of

their training needs following evaluation of their performance. The team as a whole and individuals should be set aims and

objectives and standards that they are expected to achieve. Evaluating their performance involves comparing their achievements

against these and against Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Key Performance Indicators must be a major component of success

or failure, able to be measured, quantified and influenced and provide information on future performance.

The development needs of individuals and teams can be identified through training needs analysis, which compares their present level of skills with the required level, appraisals, reviews and personal development plans which give the individual an opportunity to discuss their progress to date and plans for future development.

These tools provide feedback which must be constructive and explain what should have been done, not only what should not have been done.

DEVELOPING INDIVIDUALS AND TEAMS To improve performance, it is helpful to understand the

personal learning styles of team members. Most people have one of four learning styles. ✓✓ Activists learn by doing and have an open-minded

approach to learning ✓✓ Theorists prefer to analyse information in order to get

involved in learning ✓✓ Pragmatists need to try out new ideas, theories and

techniques and to put the learning into practice ✓✓ Reflectors observe and think about what they have

seen in order to learn

DEVELOPING INDIVIDUALS AND TEAMS The personal aspirations of individuals and the business

goals of the organisation need to be taken into consideration when choosing the appropriate development activities and approaches.

These could include coaching, mentoring, work-shadowing, feedback opportunities, in-house training, formal performance appraisals and e-learning.

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATIONAND RESOLVING CONFLICT Ways of communicating with the team must be selected carefully so

that the correct method and style is used to suit the situation. Important, sensitive or controversial information should be

communicated face to face; issues requiring discussion and agreement can be dealt with by telephone or in a meeting; where a record is needed of the communication, memos or letters are the most appropriate.

Personal communication skills will be used to build relationships within the team through giving and receiving constructive criticism and feedback.

Listening is an important part of communicating. You can only understand another person’s point of view if you listen to

what they have to say. Show understanding of their feelings and views. Use positive body language to instil confidence in them that you are

empathetic.

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATIONAND RESOLVING CONFLICT Conflict may arise within the team and is one of the most difficult

areas to handle. The cause may be a difference of opinion over working

methods, a perception of lack of effort from an individual, cultural differences, incompatibility or personal issues.

Try to get the two sides in the conflict to talk to each other and find common ground.

Where this doesn’t work a third party will be needed to mediate. It should be agreed from the start that both parties will accept the

third party’s decision. If the conflict continues, it may be necessary to carry out

disciplinary action if the situation is affecting the performance of the individuals or the team.

AND BUSINESS PERFORMANCE Improving your own performance will help to improve the performance

of the business. Your own training and development needs can be identified in the same

way as those of team members by using training needs analysis, appraisals, reviews and feedback.

This will enable you to develop a Personal Development Plan (PDP) which will identify your learning objectives, the development activities and methods to be used to achieve the objectives, an evaluation of the achievement, the cost and time involved in completing the plan.

The objectives must be SMART; i.e. they must be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely.

In the same way, objectives can be set for the team and the business. The performance of individuals and teams against objectives can be

measured and evaluated by reviewing targets, monitoring key performance indicators, confirming standards and giving constructive feedback.

EMPLOYMENT LAW Employment legislation is determined by parliament in

conjunction with the European Union. The retail industry, individual retailers and employees benefit

from employment legislation which encourages the employment of a diverse workforce which mirrors the needs of customers.

Colleagues who feel valued and respected will perform to their maximum capabilities.

In addition to the legislation listed in the section on recruitment, retail businesses are subject to the Employment Rights Act which provides contractual rights for employees; the National Minimum Wage Act which sets a minimum wage depending on the employee’s age and the Employment Relations Act which requires the recognition of trade unions where employees vote in favour.

EMPLOYMENT LAW Penalties for failure to comply with employment

legislation can include fines, closure of the business and imprisonment.

Information on possible breaches of legislation can be found on the internet, on the intranet, from the HR department, from public libraries, from trade unions, from professional bodies, from solicitors, from the Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) and from the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB).

Individuals are protected under equality and diversity legislation and anti-discrimination practice from being treated unfairly and from being discriminated against.

Individuals are also liable to prosecution if they treat others unfairly or discriminate against them.

THE END Thank you and good luck